Paris, en l’Imprimerie Royale, Antoine Estienne, 1649.
Three parts in one volume folio, late 19th century quarter calf over marbled boards, spine richly gilt with raised bands and two lettering pieces, all edges gilt. 2 title pages (in French and in Latin) with fine printer’s woodcut mark, (62) pp., 87 pp., 142 pp., 110 pp. (= 102 pp.), (8) pp. A few pagination errors.
Splendid illustration copper-engraved by the royal engraver Jean Valdor after B. Flémalle and Charles Errard comprising elaborate headpieces, decorated capital letters, tailpieces, 35 plates of emblematic figures in the text, 60 full-page plates of allegorical scenes and portraits (of which the two frontispieces) and 51 double page plates of detailed maps and plans of battlefields. Complete.
First Edition of an ambitious emblematic history of the reign of King Louis XIII of France.
The book was published six years after his death (1601-1643). Composed to pay tribute to and to glorify his reign, it was a huge undertaking and involved more than six named collaborators. The work includes an account of the life and military victories of Louis XIII, emblematic portraits of his allies and military leaders, and a series of detailed maps and plans of battlefields. The central section is dedicated to twenty unsigned engravings illustrating his major military campaigns, each accompanied by six lines of verse [in first edition] composed by the already famous dramatist Pierre Corneille, and a longer poem by Charles Beys, also a well-known playwright and poet. Both the text and engravings are packed with allusions to heroes from Greek and Roman literature and mythology ranging from Aeneas to Hercules. This grandiose volume had a clear dual function: while it offered a factual history of the reign, it was also clearly intended to make a statement about the glory of France. It stands as a splendid testimony of pride in nationhood, expressed indirectly by means of praise of the monarch and it is not coincidental that its was actually commissioned by the King himself as we are told in the title. In the interest of maximum accessibility, the work is wholly bilingual, composed in French and thereafter translated into Latin. Yet, “Les triomphes” was also written as a testament to the artistic and creative powers of its main author and publisher, Jean Valdor (1616-1675), an engraver who trained with the printmaker Wenceslas Hollar. The book’s title page identifies Valdor as the “calligrapher of the King”, a title he earned from Louis XIV through his work on this project, and attributes the allegorical compositions scattered throughout the work to Valdor’s hand. Yet, scholars have cast doubt upon Valdor’s primary role in the book’s creation. As Anthony Blunt writes, “the share of Jean Valdor in the production of the book remains uncertain… The claim that the engraved compositions were ‘invented’ by him probably means nothing more than that he suggested the subjects and possibly gave some indication about how they should be treated. Whether he did more must remain doubtful” (Blunt, 161). Pierre-Jean Mariette, the 18th century connoisseur and author of a dictionary of artists, also questioned Valdor’s creative authorship. Mariette writes, “in 1649 Valdor produced the book the Triumphs of Louis Juste, for the execution of which he borrowed different hands, as many designers as engravers, but he wanted it to be known that the work was entirely his own, and he claimed all the credit” (Mariette, iv, 365). In many of the text’s verses, Valdor also appears as a character alongside the King. The fact that these poems appear repeatedly through the text and from different authors suggests that Valdor may, at the very least, have exercised some influence over their content. Thus, “Les triomphes” should not only be seen solely as a vehicle for the King’s aggrandizement, but also as a platform for Valdor’s own aspirations and a monument to his own ambitions. Indeed, Valdor’s efforts were a success. After “Les triomphes” was completed, Louis XIV knighted him (Festival Books from the Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection, Brown University Library).
A very good copy.
Ref. Brunet, V, 1033 / Cicognara, 1452 / Picot, Bibliographie cornélienne, 195 / Praz, 575 / Renouard, Annales de l’imprimerie des Estiennes, p. 224, 4 / Alison Saunders, The Seventeen-century French Emblem, pp. 118-119 / Tchmerzine, IV, p. 176.
Price: 3.500,00 euros
